Bath Time and More photo fun!

July 3, 2009

The baby boy Ephraim is growing SO much. I can hardly believe another week has gone by : ) We have lots of fun during the day. Of course, he eats as much and often as possible : ) (I guess he IS like his mom in some way!) We usually watch Rachel Ray together in the a.m. Eph stares at me and I talk in baby voice about how good the food looks and so on : ) Then, there is nap time for baby and mom gets stuff done around the house. Then after a wake up snack, we take a walk around the neighborhood. If baby falls asleep, mom gets a shower! Otherwise, we play some more and hang out. Sometimes he enjoys his swing, or we do tummy time on the mat. We eat some more and play more. Its all really quite fun! Every once in a while we go out to the bank or the drive-thru Starbucks! Yeah!

Summer is flying by with the little man, and before you know it I will have to be back at work again. I am just so thankful to have all this time with him. Here are some pictures from our numerous photo shoots : )

A photo shoot for Grandmas!

Sleepy times with daddy.

Going to Starbucks and the Bank!

Back and Tummy time on the cool kiddo mat!

Just because I'm cute!

He liked the bath after he realized it was warm!

One Month Old!

Eph's FauxHawk : )

I'm one month and Proud!

I'm cute AND charming!

I look hot in mittens, don't I?

I'm reflecting on being one month old today....its...nice : )

June 29, 2009

Ephraim is one month old today! I can hardly believe it! Of course, I will have a photo shoot today and post the pictures up here eventually!

Well, I think the guests are coming at a slower pace now. We still have people visiting, but they are spread out a little more. Momma is super tired still and so is daddy. Little guy is still up a lot at night--its kinda hard to get anything done around the house!

Ephraim's photo shoot is up online here: www.photographybymichelle.com Click on the client previews section and enter Ephraimnb to see his cuteness! I love love love the pics with him looking at daddy!

Although its a short one, its a good one! I hope you can view the pics! Don't delay! He is already growing up even more! I'll post again this week.....if he lets me!

Three Weeks Old!

Monday, June 22, 2009--Ephraim is 3 weeks old today!

I'm trying too hard by attempting to write my blog ahead of time and making it all perfect. I mean, that IS the point of a blog of this kind, right?

Ok, so Ephraim is three weeks old and I can hardly believe it. Seriously, he has grown already and just so darn cute! He loves to sit in his swing (and fall asleep), play with Daddy during tummy time, and be held all the time : ) We spend lots of time together since he eats every 1.5-3 hours and is a big eater!

So far, he has peed on mommy about 3 times and pooped once. It was quite a week! We took him to Tremont for his newborn photos on Saturday. It was his third car trip, but the longest one (first was home from hospital, second to the doc). He slept like a champ and was super cute in his photo shoot! We will get a link from http://www.photographybymichelle.com with a password to see his pictures in about two weeks.

We've had so many family members and friends bless us with their time, cleaning skills, cooking abilities and love. We are happy to say that Ephraim is loved by them all, too.

A couple of cute pics are below...

Lots of baby fun and a vote!

Saturday, June 13, 2009
So the baby is growing already! He smiled on day 4! I can't believe how in love with this kiddo I am! Here are some cute photos to update you on his fun at home!

Also, I am a finalist in the People's Choice award at nononsense.com. If you vote daily, you have a chance to win a $50 gift certificate. Vote often :) https://www.nononsense.com/PCA/Vote.aspx

Rockstar Ephraim!

First Sponge Bath!

Cuddle Kiddo
Monkey-ing Around
Ma and Babe


Peanut is sleeping
Sleepy guy....awe so cute
Outside photo shoot
Awe! So cute!!!!!!

Ephraim Milum Batson

Ephraim Milum Batson was born on June 1, 2009 at 4:18 am.

A long birth story includes:

At 330 am I believed my water broke. We were admitted to Triage at 5:30am and they said that my water broke, too. (12 hours later, we realize that it was a slow leak and not actually broken!)

I was admitted to Labor Delivery Room #2. We were so ready for baby boy to arrive! It took three tries, but I did get an IV (yucky and ouch!) Thank goodness Jerret was there for me. I have some great bruises to account for hard to get veins.

Anyway, so they started me on Pitocin to make sure I delivered within 24 hours of my water breaking (or so we thought). The baby was low, but I was still not dilated past a one. Over the course of the next 12 hours, I labored through hard contractions on the labor ball, walking and just breathing. The nurses kept increasing the induction medicine, so the contractions were getting closer and stronger, but 12 long hours later I was still 1cm. I was tired and annoyed.

I had a few women visitors who wouldn't accept no for an answer. Ashley, Alice and Rena came in to visit while I was in labor. They each didnt stay long, but it was nice to see them. The whole family was in the waiting room---WAITING. I really didn't want them to wait....and it stressed me out a little knowing everyone was waiting on me.

The nurse asked again if I wanted the Epideral. I caved and decided to get the Epideral. It wasn't a walk in the park--and I was completely terrified, but it worked. The anethesist was super funny and made the setup and anxious time go by quick. The epideral was finished around 7pm.

The doctor on call visited and said we might have to discuss a c-section if I don't progress in the next few hours. She wanted to check to see how far along I was....STILL 1cm, but she noticed that my bag of water was still there! She hooked it and it officially broke! This was great news to all the nurses and Jerret and I! So, they told me to take a nap--and I did! Jerret and I slept so soundly for about 2 hours, until 9pm. We were checked at 9 and I was dialted to 4cm! This was amazing and exciting and I couldn't sleep anymore after that. We asked tons of questions to the nurses and got ready for the progressing birth. By 11pm, I was past 7cm and getting there. Jerret and I had time to talk about being parents and finally decided on a baby name in those wee hours of the morning!

At 3am, the nurse came in and announced we were going to "practice push." We actually never stopped practicing, and the doctor was called 45 minutes later. She arrived and stayed for about 15 minutes and Ephraim came out at 4:18am! No complications and not too much pushing time. Daddy Jerret helped keep mom focused on the contractions and pushing and then watched baby get cleaned up and took some pictures of the babe.

Mom and baby were allowed visitors within an hour and the family came rushing in. No one knew the baby's name yet--so we announced his name to the family that early morning. After the photos and everything, we waited for the Epideral to wear off and went to the postpartum room around 7am. I promptly ordered breakfast, but still couldn't eat very much. My stomach was too anxious and I got full immediately. (This was really sad for me--I didnt eat dinner the night before we went to the hospital and I was STARVING, having lived off of 4 popsicles through delivery).

I think that is all for the story! I'll post more photos very soon! Baby is learning to sleep a little more at night....maybe I will get to blog some more later.

Ephraim Milum Batson

Mom and Baby Ephraim

Looking good--trying to pickup the nurses!

Just got weighed

Daddy and baby

Still Ready....

Monday, May 25, 2009

This weekend was extra long and extra NEEDED! Mom left Friday, and Jerret took me (and Mr Boy Batson!) to a St Louis Cardinals game. The Cards beat the Royals and we had a great time at the game. Ok, I was hot, tired, and stuck in a little chair, but watching the game from our primo seats was completely awesome : )

See the baby sitting on my leg!?! BIG Cardinals Belly!

GO CARDS! (go away heatwave!)

Saturday met us with sleep and Jerret building things. Some photos below are the cute baby things Jerret (and helpers) worked on over the weekend. While it was hot on Saturday, we still cooked out and enjoyed dinner on our patio!

Big sister, Sadie, gets tortured by mom one more time. What a cute ribbon from Jerret's work friends! Doesn't she look so cute as a big sister!?!?!?!

Sunday I was so tired, but we still went to church. Jerret ran the control room and I got to sit next to Jake Elder, the newest addition to Julie and Matt's family! Jake was so cute and adorable! It was fun, but I did have some horrible contractions. I thought Sunday was THE day he would come into this world. I had about 8 contractions all day, but they didn't progress anywhere. So, I napped, walked, and napped some more. Jerret was a gentleman and took care of me all day and night.

Monday, no work, so we both slept in till 10am (ok, my sleeping is interrupted every hour and a half for a bathroom break), but it was great anyway. We relaxed, read, worked (ok, Jerret worked) and just hung out together. It was super great to be relaxed at our house and spend quality time together. We have some new photos of the Nursery. Jerret keeps making fun that I keep re-organizing the whole place, but I love it. I love spending time in the nursery and thinking of all the time I will spend with little boy Batson. I also started my pregnancy online scrapbook. I've taken some notes and have lots of pictures to compile for this great book. It should be awesome!

Changing table, diaper champ, diaper stacker, cute decor!

Crib (from Grandma Ash and Grandpa Mike) with the big blanket hanging! Oh yeah, and a cute picture of Mommy and Daddy by the crib

Glider from Grandma Rena with the blanket from Grandma Alice!

Another view of the beautiful crib from the grandparents!

Keep us in your prayers, along with all those other preggo friends I have at church and work. We just found out that Kameron, from work, had her baby boy at 1pm today! Congrats!

Getting Close!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Today Rena came to work with me! We celebrated another co-worker's baby shower! What fun! Lots of babies around and lots of excitement.

Lots of excitement over the weekend, but no baby. First, the boys put together the pack and play. And YES, it did take three of them (wink wink!) Too bad it doesnt fit through any of our bedroom doorways. Guess we have to dis-assemble to get it in a room! Jerret says "forget taking this thing to Grandmas' houses! They need their own!"

Then, we have a clean house---for one last time, maybe! Its all ready for our Sunday lunch guests. Of course, I forgot to take pictures of our potluck lunch. But, it was really fun! We had about 25 friends and neighbors over for a cookout on a BEAUTIFUL day!

Crystal, Melissa and Steph at Crystal's baby shower!